Published 1:00 am, Thursday, January 15, 2009

State prison officials would not release the inmate's name, saying they were not sure if the man's family had been notified.
At about 8:30 p.m., according to state corrections spokesman
Brian Garnett
, the 26-year-old man "jumped off the top tier of the housing unit."
He "jumped over the railing and landed on the floor below," Garnett said, a fall of 15 to 20 feet.
The inmate was apparently not seriously injured, since he was back from the hospital by 2 a.m. Thursday.
It is unclear what prompted the inmate to jump. Garnett would not say whether it was a suicide attempt. "He jumped over the railing," he said.
The inmate was in a housing unit. The inmates have some free movement in the housing units during certain times of day.
"He may have just been returning to his cell at the time," Garnett said. "I'm not sure exactly what he was doing, but it is not unusual for them to be moving around up there."
Garner, at 50 Nunnawauk Road, specializes in housing inmates with severe mental health problems. The injured inmate has not been convicted of a crime, but has third-degree assault charges pending. He has been held at the prison since Nov. 14.
Garnett would not say what town the man is from. He did not know in which jurisdiction the charge is pending. No new criminal charges were filed against the inmate in connection to Wednesday's incident, and the prison is apparently not going to impose sanctions against him.
The incident is the latest in a recent spat of violence inside the prison.
On Jan. 12, an inmate serving a six-month sentence for resisting arrest was charged with assault after allegedly punching his cellmate in the face. The victim, who was asleep when hit, needed 20 stitches to close a gash in his bottom lip.
On Jan. 9, an inmate serving a 13-year prison sentence for kidnapping, allegedly punched a corrections officer in the face as she was trying to move him out of his cell.